sausage made by committee
Oct. 19th, 2010 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eubhttp://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/64376/title/Holy_moley
Wouldn't it be a little dispiriting to be on the committee to set the value of a physical constant? I bet they don't think of it as setting.
Though really, I have to admit, the committee is better than the platinum-iridium slug in a vault.
Wikipedia adds that the silicon sphere they're counting atoms in is cut from "a 4.8-kg single crystal of isotopically-enriched silicon (99.94% 28Si)".
Currently, the Avogadro number is set by a committee that averages the results from different experiments.
Wouldn't it be a little dispiriting to be on the committee to set the value of a physical constant? I bet they don't think of it as setting.
Though really, I have to admit, the committee is better than the platinum-iridium slug in a vault.
Wikipedia adds that the silicon sphere they're counting atoms in is cut from "a 4.8-kg single crystal of isotopically-enriched silicon (99.94% 28Si)".
